Acacia John Bunyan - Online Library - A Timeline Chronicling the Life of John Bunyan A Timeline Chronicling the Life of John Bunyan By Judith Bronte John Bunyan ( 1628 - 1688 ) This is not a complete history of John Bunyan. This chronicles some of the events in John Bunyan's life that can be established by dates, thus giving us a somewhat accurate overview of his extraordinary life. Events that took place in the same year are not arranged in chronological order. Date Event November 1628 Birth Born in the parish of Elstow, in Bedfordshire, to Thomas Bunyan and Margaret Bentley (Thomas's first wife, Anne Pinney, had died the year before without any surviving children). November 30, 1644 16 Enlists in the Parliamentary army, joining with the Newport Pagnell garrison, at the regulation age of sixteen. 1645 17 Newport Pagnell garrison moves to Leicester. Most probably, it was here that Bunyan's comrade was shot.

"When I was a soldier, I, with others, were drawn out to go to such a place to besiege it; but when I was just ready to go, one of the company desired to go in my room; to which, when I had consented, he took my place; and coming to the siege, as he stood sentinel, he was shot into the head with a musket bullet, and died." - John Bunyan, from " Grace Abounding " Margaret Bentley died June 1645 (date approximate) 17 After seventeen years of marriage, Margaret Bentley, John's mother, dies. Her death is followed within a month by John's sister Margaret. Two months after his wife's death, Thomas Bunyan, John's father, marries his third wife. August 1646 18 Order given that the Newport Pagnell garrison is to be disbanded, and the soldiers "employed for the service of Ireland". January 17, 1647 19 Irish officer Lieutenant Colonel Charles O'Hara musters troops at Newport, of which Bunyan is a member. 1647 19 Returns home.

1648 20 Marries first wife, who was an orphan. "I changed my condition into a married state, and my mercy was to light upon a wife whose father was counted godly. This woman and I, though we came together as poor as poor might be, not having so much household stuff as a dish or spoon betwixt us both, yet this she had for her part, The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven, and The Practice of Piety, which her father had left her when he died." - John Bunyan, from " Grace Abounding " July 20, 1650 22 Mary, his much loved blind daughter and eldest child, is baptized. 1653 25 Joins St. John's church in Bedford, where he meets Mr. Gifford, the pastor. 1653 (date approximate) 25 John falls out of a boat into the Bedford river, escaping drowning. "I fell out of a boat into Bedford river, but mercy yet preserved me alive." - John Bunyan, from " Grace Abounding " April 14, 1654 26 Mary's younger sister, Elizabeth, is born.

1655 27 Moves to Bedford and becomes a deacon of St. John's church. First wife dies soon after move, leaving John with four motherless children. Mr. Gifford dies in September of the same year. 1656 28 Publishes first work entitled "Some Gospel Truths Opened". 1657 (year approximate) 29 Publishes second work entitled "Vindication of Gospel Truths". 1657 29 Formally recognized as a preacher. 1658 30 Indictment is laid against John at the Assizes for "preaching at Eaton Socon". The charge was most likely dropped. 1658 30 Publishes third work entitled " A Few Sighs From Hell ". 1659 31 Marries his second wife, Elizabeth. 1659 31 Publishes " The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded ". This is the last book he writes before being placed in prison. November 12, 1660 32 On November 12th, John is scheduled to preach at the hamlet of Lower Samsell.

Upon his arrival, he is informed that a warrant has been issued for his arrest. After a lengthy interview with Mr. Francis Wingate, and another with Wingate's brother-in-law, William Foster, (who unsuccessfully tries to persuade Bunyan into a concession), John was placed in Bedford prison. He was charged with "devilishly and perniciously abstaining from coming to Church to hear Divine Service, and for being a common upholder of several unlawful meetings and conventicles, to the great disturbance and distraction of the good subjects of this kingdom, contrary to the laws of our sovereign lord and king." November 20, 1660 (date approximate) 32 Within approximately eight days of John's arrest, his wife gives birth, only for the infant to die soon after. "I am but mother-in-law to them, having not been married to him yet full two years.

[Elizabeth, John's second wife, spoke this in 1661.] Indeed, I was with child when my husband was first apprehended; but being young, and unaccustomed to such things, said she, I being smayed at the news, fell into labour, and so continued for eight days, and then was delivered, but my child died." - John Bunyan's wife, from " A Relation of My Imprisonment " August 1661 33 "Whereupon I continued in prison till the next assizes, which are called MIDSUMMER ASSIZES, being then kept in AUGUST, 1661." - John Bunyan, from " A Relation of My Imprisonment " John's wife goes before the judges, to ask that her husband's case be considered. She is denied. 1662 34 The Assizes of 1662. John endeavors to have his name entered in the calendar of offenders, so his case would come before the judges. However, the Clerk of the Peace alters John's entry, thus making it possible for Bunyan to remain in prison for the next four years. 1662 35 Writes " Christian Behavior ".

1664 (date approximate) 36 Publishes " One Thing Is Needful " on single sheets to be sold by his wife and children, to aid them financially. 1665 37 Writes " The Holy City ", and " The Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment " from Bedford prison. 1665 37 Writes a poem entitled " Prison Meditations " in response to a letter he received, exhorting him to hold his head above the flood. 1666 38 Publishes " Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners ". A brief period of freedom follows re-incarceration "He was let out again, 1666, being the year of the burning of London, and, a little after his release, they took him again at a meeting, and put him in the same jail, where he lay six years more." - Charles Doe, A friend and biographer of John Bunyan. 1671 43 Released from Bedford prison, after twelve years of imprisonment. His formal pardon is dated September 13, 1672, but he received a royal license to preach five months earlier.

1674 46 Publishes " Christian Behavior " as a pocket volume. 1675 47 Writes " The Pilgrim's Progress " during six months of incarceration. After being released the same year, he resumes his pastorate in Bedford. 1676 60 Publishes " The Jerusalem Sinner Saved " in a pocket volume of eight sheets. August 19, 1688 60 Preaches his last sermon from John 1:13. Dies on August 31, 1688 60 Travels through drenching rain on behalf of a young man, whose father was angry with him. After succeeding his mission, he returns to his lodging on Snow Hill. After enduring ten days of violent fever, he dies and is buried in Bunhill Fields. 1688 - " The Barren Fig Tree " is reprinted a few months after John's decease. 1691 - " The Jerusalem Sinner Saved " is reprinted.

1691 - Charles Doe publishes " An Exposition on the First Ten Chapters of Genesis, and Part of the Eleventh ", an unfinished commentary on the Bible, found among John Bunyan's papers after his death, in his own handwriting. 1692 - Elizabeth Bunyan, John's second wife, dies. 1692 A Pilgrim's Progress: Suffering in the Life of John Bunyan - A Christian View of Suffering October 15, 2014 Written by Michael Gleghorn Michael Gleghorn considers the lessons presented by the life and writings of the famous author of The Pilgrim’s Progress to give each of us a better understanding of the role of suffering in the lives of followers of Christ. A Suffering Pilgrim John Bunyan is known to most people today as the author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, a book he began writing in prison. It tells the story of “Christian,” who makes his way from the “City of Destruction” (which represents this world) to the “Celestial City” (which represents Heaven).

It’s been described as “perhaps the world’s best-selling book” (after the Bible), and has been “translated into over 200 languages.” {1} Written in the form of an allegory, it essentially relates the story of Bunyan’s own Christian journey. {2} And just as his life was full of trials and suffering, so also “Christian” must face many hardships and difficulties as well. Bunyan was born in England in 1628 at a time of great political and religious unrest. In 1644, at just fifteen years old, both his mother and sister died within a month of each other. Later that year, “when Bunyan had turned sixteen, he was drafted into the Parliamentary Army and for about two years was taken from his home for military service.” {3} He married in 1648, at about the age of twenty, but his wife died just ten years later, leaving him with four children, the oldest of whom was blind.

He married again the following year, in 1659, but incredibly, just one year after this, “Bunyan was arrested and put in prison.” {4} His wife, who was pregnant at the time, suffered a miscarriage, probably because of the added stress which this ordeal created. She was then left to care for Bunyan’s four children while he spent the next twelve years in jail. {5} As you can see, Bunyan was no stranger to suffering. Indeed, he had an intimate, firsthand acquaintance with heartache, trials, and difficulties. But what crimes had he committed to be cast into prison? Essentially, the charges against him were two: first, “he refused to attend the services of the Established church” of England; and second, he “preached to unlawful assemblies.” {6} You see, Bunyan had converted to Christianity during his first marriage and had become a powerful and respected preacher. But in the volatile political and religious climate of that day, the freedom of Nonconformist preachers like Bunyan eventually came to an end. And when it did, he was arrested and put in prison.

In the remainder of this article we’ll look at some of the trials this man endured, how he responded to them, and what they might teach us as we each make our own spiritual journey. The Pilgrim’s Conversion The Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the best-selling Christian books of all time. But as Bunyan tells us in another of his books, the autobiographical Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, before becoming a Christian he had few equals in “cursing, swearing, lying and blaspheming the holy name of God.” Indeed, prior to his marriage, he says he was “the very ring-leader of all the youth . . . into all manner of vice and ungodliness.” {7} Bunyan’s young wife had a very godly father. When he died, he left her two books which she brought into her marriage: The Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven and The Practice of Piety. According to Bunyan, although these books did not awaken him to his “sad and sinful state,” they nevertheless did arouse within him “some desires to religion.” {8} One of the practical effects of these new desires was Bunyan’s regular attendance at a local church.

Soon Bunyan also began to read the Bible. He then came under such powerful conviction of sin that he scarcely knew what to do. “Sin and corruption,” he wrote, “would as naturally bubble out of my heart, as water would bubble out of a fountain. . . I thought none but the devil himself could equalize me for inward wickedness and pollution of mind.” {9} Bunyan was plunged into a state of despair over the greatness of his sin which, he tell us, “continued a long while, even for some years together.” {10} Eventually, after years of spiritual and emotional agony, Bunyan described “what seemed to be the decisive moment.” {11} He was heading into the field one day when suddenly this sentence broke in upon his mind: “Thy righteousness is in heaven.” At this, he says, “I . . . saw . . . that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse: for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever (Heb. 13:8).” “Now,” he said, “did my chains fall off my legs indeed . . .

my temptations also fled away . . . now went I . . . home rejoicing, for the grace and love of God.” {12} After years of spiritual anguish, Bunyan had been set free by the grace of God from some of his worst fears and torments. But as we’ll see, this was not to be the end of his experience with suffering. As one set of trials was ending, another was soon to begin. The Pilgrim’s Imprisonment According to Bunyan, five or six years after his conversion, in about the year 1655, some of the believers in his local congregation began entreating him “to speak a word of exhortation unto them.” {13} Although initially hesitant, Bunyan agreed to their request “and suddenly a great preacher was discovered.” {14} Apparently, word spread quickly through the English countryside. According to one author, “In the days of toleration, a day’s notice would get a crowd of 1,200 to hear him preach at 7 o’clock in the morning on a weekday.” {15} Unfortunately, it was not to last.

In 1660, the same year in which Charles II was brought home as king in the Restoration of the Monarchy, John Bunyan was arrested and imprisoned “for preaching without state approval.” {16} Officially, he was charged with being in violation of the Elizabethan Conventicle Act of 1593. According to this Act, anyone found guilty of “abstaining from coming to church to hear divine service, and . . . being a common upholder of several unlawful meetings . . . could be held without bail until he or she submitted to the authority of the Anglican church.” {17} As a Nonconformist preacher, this Act applied to men like Bunyan. What’s interesting, however, is that Bunyan could have gone free at any time, so long as he agreed to give up preaching. But as he was firmly persuaded that he had been called by God to this ministry, he was completely unwilling to abandon his calling. He thus spent the next twelve years in prison, largely cut off from his wife, children, friends, and church.

I say “largely cut off” for, strange as it may seem, it appears that Bunyan was occasionally let out “to see his family or make brief trips.” {18} Of course, this was the exception and not the rule. Nevertheless, by “the standards of the seventeenth century the conditions in which he was held were not particularly brutal.” {19} On the other hand, Bunyan was largely fortunate in this respect: “hundreds of Dissenters died in prison, and many more came out with their health broken by foul, over-crowded conditions.” {20} Although these qualifications must be admitted, we must never lose sight of the fact that Bunyan was willing to endure twelve long years of this suffering, rather than agree to give up preaching. And thankfully, as we’ll see, God brought a great deal of good out of His faithful servant’s suffering. The Pilgrim’s Writings Most people today know John Bunyan as the author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, but this is just one of many works written by the metal-worker turned minister. His first book was written in 1656, when he was twenty-eight years old.

But by the time of his death, some thirty-two years later, he had authored fifty-seven more! {21} John Piper notes: The variety in these books was remarkable: books dealing with controversies (like those concerning the Quakers . . . justification and baptism), collections of poems, children’s literature, and allegory (like The Holy War and The Life and Death of Mr. Badman). But the vast majority were practical . . . expositions of Scripture built from sermons for the sake of . . . helping Christian pilgrims make their way successfully to heaven. {22} What’s especially astonishing about the size and variety of Bunyan’s literary legacy is that it came from a man with almost no formal education. As a child Bunyan had been taught to read and write, but nothing more. He had no university or seminary degrees in which to boast. And yet his diligent study of the Bible, born mainly out of a burning desire to find peace with God, made Bunyan mighty in the Scriptures. Indeed the Bible, more than any other book, would be the primary influence upon his many writings.

So evident was this to Charles Spurgeon, the famous nineteenth century Baptist preacher, that he once wrote of Bunyan: He had studied our Authorized Version . . . till his whole being was saturated with Scripture; and though his writings are . . . full of poetry, yet he cannot give us his Pilgrim’s Progress—that sweetest of all prose poems—without continually making us feel and say, “Why, this man is a living Bible!” Prick him anywhere; and you will find that his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. {23} Not even his suffering in prison could dampen Bunyan’s enthusiasm for the Word of God or for writing. Indeed, if anything, it increased it. Some of his best-known works were written from the confines of a prison cell. These include Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, written during his first imprisonment, as well as The Pilgrim’s Progress, apparently completed during a second, briefer period of imprisonment in 1677. {24} Bunyan’s writings are surely one of his greatest gifts to the church.

Lessons from a Suffering Pilgrim A thoughtful examination of John Bunyan’s reflections on the purpose and value of suffering can give us much wisdom in how best to deal with it in our own lives. Near the end of his spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, he appended a brief account of his imprisonment in the Bedford jail. In it, he tells of how he tried to prepare himself for imprisonment, and possibly even death, when he realized that he might soon be called upon to suffer for the cause of Christ. Naturally, as one might well expect, one of the things he did was pray. He was particularly concerned to ask God for the strength to patiently endure his imprisonment, even with an attitude of joy (Col. 1:11). {25} However, it’s the second thing he says that I find especially interesting and helpful. He reflects on the words of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:9: “[W]e had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (NASB).

Commenting on this verse, he then makes the following two observations: By this scripture I was made to see that if ever I would suffer rightly, I must first pass a sentence of death upon everything that can properly be called a thing of this life, even to reckon myself, my wife, my children, my health, my enjoyments and all, as dead to me, and myself as dead to them. . . . The second was, to live upon God that is invisible; as Paul said in another place, the way not to faint, is to look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal; but the things that are not seen, they are eternal {26} . Bunyan realized that, like it or not, suffering, pain, loss and death would all come to him in one way or another. Indeed, sooner or later every single one of us must ultimately face these terrifying realities. How, then, can we best prepare to meet them? As Bunyan reminds us, if we only prepare for prison, say, then we will be unprepared for beatings.

But if we stop our preparation with beatings, then we will be unprepared for death. But we cannot evade or cheat death forever. And thus, concludes Bunyan, “the best way to go through sufferings, is to trust in God through Christ, as touching the world to come; and as touching this world.” {27} This was how Bunyan lived, and with God’s help it was also how he died. May the eternal and unseen God grant each of us the grace to follow his example. Notes 1. Christopher Hill, A Tinker and a Poor Man: John Bunyan and His Church, 1628-1688 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989), 375, cited in John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2001), 60. 2. W. R. Owens, “Introduction,” in Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (New York: Penguin, 1987), xxiii. 3.

Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, 49. 4. Ibid., 54. 5. Ibid. 6. Owens, “Introduction,” xv. 7. John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, ed. W. R. Owens (New York: Penguin, 1987), 8. 8. Ibid., 10. A Pilgrim's Progress: Suffering in the Life of John Bunyan | Michael Gleghorn | Christian Apologetics Share Synopsis This article looks at the life, ministry, and sufferings of John Bunyan and attempts to draw some helpful lessons for our own lives. A Pilgrim's Progress: Suffering in the Life of John Bunyan Written by Michael Gleghorn Illustration ï¿½ 2009 by Michael Wimmer. Published in The Pilgrimï¿½s Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come (Crossway 2009) A Suffering Pilgrim John Bunyan is known to most people today as the author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, a book he began writing in prison.

It tells the story of “Christian,” who makes his way from the “City of Destruction” (which represents this world) to the “Celestial City” (which represents Heaven). It’s been described as “perhaps the world’s best-selling book” (after the Bible), and has been “translated into over 200 languages.” {1} Written in the form of an allegory, it essentially relates the story of Bunyan’s own Christian journey. {2} And just as his life was full of trials and suffering, so also “Christian” must face many hardships and difficulties as well. Bunyan was born in England in 1628 at a time of great political and religious unrest. In 1644, at just fifteen years old, both his mother and sister died within a month of each other. Later that year, “when Bunyan had turned sixteen, he was drafted into the Parliamentary Army and for about two years was taken from his home for military service.” {3} He married in 1648, at about the age of twenty, but his wife died just ten years later, leaving him with four children, the oldest of whom was blind.

He married again the following year, in 1659, but incredibly, just one year after this, “Bunyan was arrested and put in prison.” {4} His wife, who was pregnant at the time, suffered a miscarriage, probably because of the added stress which this ordeal created. She was then left to care for Bunyan’s four children while he spent the next twelve years in jail. {5} As you can see, Bunyan was no stranger to suffering. Indeed, he had an intimate, firsthand acquaintance with heartache, trials, and difficulties. But what crimes had he committed to be cast into prison? Essentially, the charges against him were two: first, “he refused to attend the services of the Established church” of England; and second, he “preached to unlawful assemblies.” {6} You see, Bunyan had converted to Christianity during his first marriage and had become a powerful and respected preacher. But in the volatile political and religious climate of that day, the freedom of Nonconformist preachers like Bunyan eventually came to an end. And when it did, he was arrested and put in prison.

In the remainder of this article we’ll look at some of the trials this man endured, how he responded to them, and what they might teach us as we each make our own spiritual journey. The Pilgrim’s Conversion The Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the best-selling Christian books of all time. But as Bunyan tells us in another of his books, the autobiographical Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, before becoming a Christian he had few equals in “cursing, swearing, lying and blaspheming the holy name of God.” Indeed, prior to his marriage, he says he was “the very ring-leader of all the youth . . . into all manner of vice and ungodliness.” {7} Bunyan’s young wife had a very godly father. When he died, he left her two books which she brought into her marriage: The Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven and The Practice of Piety. According to Bunyan, although these books did not awaken him to his “sad and sinful state,” they nevertheless did arouse within him “some desires to religion.” {8} One of the practical effects of these new desires was Bunyan’s regular attendance at a local church.

Soon Bunyan also began to read the Bible. He then came under such powerful conviction of sin that he scarcely knew what to do. “Sin and corruption,” he wrote, “would as naturally bubble out of my heart, as water would bubble out of a fountain. . . I thought none but the devil himself could equalize me for inward wickedness and pollution of mind.” {9} Bunyan was plunged into a state of despair over the greatness of his sin which, he tell us, “continued a long while, even for some years together.” {10} Eventually, after years of spiritual and emotional agony, Bunyan described “what seemed to be the decisive moment.” {11} He was heading into the field one day when suddenly this sentence broke in upon his mind: “Thy righteousness is in heaven.” At this, he says, “I . . . saw . . . that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse: for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever (Heb. 13:8).” “Now,” he said, “did my chains fall off my legs indeed . . .

my temptations also fled away . . . now went I . . . home rejoicing, for the grace and love of God.” {12} After years of spiritual anguish, Bunyan had been set free by the grace of God from some of his worst fears and torments. But as we’ll see, this was not to be the end of his experience with suffering. As one set of trials was ending, another was soon to begin. John Bunyan preaching in the open air The Pilgrim’s Imprisonment According to Bunyan, five or six years after his conversion, in about the year 1655, some of the believers in his local congregation began entreating him “to speak a word of exhortation unto them.” {13} Although initially hesitant, Bunyan agreed to their request “and suddenly a great preacher was discovered.” {14} Apparently, word spread quickly through the English countryside. According to one author, “In the days of toleration, a day’s notice would get a crowd of 1,200 to hear him preach at 7 o’clock in the morning on a weekday.” {15} Unfortunately, it was not to last.

In 1660, the same year in which Charles II was brought home as king in the Restoration of the Monarchy, John Bunyan was arrested and imprisoned “for preaching without state approval.” {16} Officially, he was charged with being in violation of the Elizabethan Conventicle Act of 1593. According to this Act, anyone found guilty of “abstaining from coming to church to hear divine service, and . . . being a common upholder of several unlawful meetings . . . could be held without bail until he or she submitted to the authority of the Anglican church.” {17} As a Nonconformist preacher, this Act applied to men like Bunyan. What’s interesting, however, is that Bunyan could have gone free at any time, so long as he agreed to give up preaching. But as he was firmly persuaded that he had been called by God to this ministry, he was completely unwilling to abandon his calling. He thus spent the next twelve years in prison, largely cut off from his wife, children, friends, and church.

I say “largely cut off” for, strange as it may seem, it appears that Bunyan was occasionally let out “to see his family or make brief trips.” {18} Of course, this was the exception and not the rule. Nevertheless, by “the standards of the seventeenth century the conditions in which he was held were not particularly brutal.” {19} On the other hand, Bunyan was largely fortunate in this respect: “hundreds of Dissenters died in prison, and many more came out with their health broken by foul, over-crowded conditions.” {20} Although these qualifications must be admitted, we must never lose sight of the fact that Bunyan was willing to endure twelve long years of this suffering, rather than agree to give up preaching. And thankfully, as we’ll see, God brought a great deal of good out of His faithful servant’s suffering. Illustration © 2009 by Michael Wimmer.

Published in The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come (Crossway 2009) The Pilgrim’s Writings Most people today know John Bunyan as the author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, but this is just one of many works written by the metal-worker turned minister. His first book was written in 1656, when he was twenty-eight years old. But by the time of his death, some thirty-two years later, he had authored fifty-seven more! {21} John Piper notes: The variety in these books was remarkable: books dealing with controversies (like those concerning the Quakers . . . justification and baptism), collections of poems, children’s literature, and allegory (like The Holy War and The Life and Death of Mr. Badman). But the vast majority were practical . . . expositions of Scripture built from sermons for the sake of . . . helping Christian pilgrims make their way successfully to heaven. {22} What’s especially astonishing about the size and variety of Bunyan’s literary legacy is that it came from a man with almost no formal education. As a child Bunyan had been taught to read and write, but nothing more.

He had no university or seminary degrees in which to boast. And yet his diligent study of the Bible, born mainly out of a burning desire to find peace with God, made Bunyan mighty in the Scriptures. Indeed the Bible, more than any other book, would be the primary influence upon his many writings. So evident was this to Charles Spurgeon, the famous nineteenth century Baptist preacher, that he once wrote of Bunyan: He had studied our Authorized Version . . . till his whole being was saturated with Scripture; and though his writings are . . . full of poetry, yet he cannot give us his Pilgrim’s Progress—that sweetest of all prose poems—without continually making us feel and say, “Why, this man is a living Bible!” Prick him anywhere; and you will find that his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. {23} Not even his suffering in prison could dampen Bunyan’s enthusiasm for the Word of God or for writing. Indeed, if anything, it increased it. Some of his best-known works were written from the confines of a prison cell.

These include Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, written during his first imprisonment, as well as The Pilgrim’s Progress, apparently completed during a second, briefer period of imprisonment in 1677. {24} Bunyan’s writings are surely one of his greatest gifts to the church. Lessons from a Suffering Pilgrim A thoughtful examination of John Bunyan’s reflections on the purpose and value of suffering can give us much wisdom in how best to deal with it in our own lives. Near the end of his spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, he appended a brief account of his imprisonment in the Bedford jail. In it, he tells of how he tried to prepare himself for imprisonment, and possibly even death, when he realized that he might soon be called upon to suffer for the cause of Christ. Naturally, as one might well expect, one of the things he did was pray. He was particularly concerned to ask God for the strength to patiently endure his imprisonment, even with an attitude of joy (Col. 1:11). {25} However, it’s the second thing he says that I find especially interesting and helpful.

He reflects on the words of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:9: “[W]e had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (NASB). Commenting on this verse, he then makes the following two observations: By this scripture I was made to see that if ever I would suffer rightly, I must first pass a sentence of death upon everything that can properly be called a thing of this life, even to reckon myself, my wife, my children, my health, my enjoyments and all, as dead to me, and myself as dead to them. . . . The second was, to live upon God that is invisible; as Paul said in another place, the way not to faint, is to look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal; but the things that are not seen, they are eternal {26} . Bunyan realized that, like it or not, suffering, pain, loss and death would all come to him in one way or another. Indeed, sooner or later every single one of us must ultimately face these terrifying realities.

How, then, can we best prepare to meet them? As Bunyan reminds us, if we only prepare for prison, say, then we will be unprepared for beatings. But if we stop our preparation with beatings, then we will be unprepared for death. But we cannot evade or cheat death forever. And thus, concludes Bunyan, “the best way to go through sufferings, is to trust in God through Christ, as touching the world to come; and as touching this world.” {27} This was how Bunyan lived, and with God’s help it was also how he died. May the eternal and unseen God grant each of us the grace to follow his example. Notes 1. Christopher Hill, A Tinker and a Poor Man: John Bunyan and His Church, 1628-1688 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989), 375, cited in John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2001), 60. 2. W.

R. Owens, "Introduction," in Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (New York: Penguin, 1987), xxiii. 3. Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, 49. 4. Ibid., 54. 5. Ibid. 6. Owens, "Introduction," xv. 7. John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, ed. W. R. Owens (New York: Penguin, 1987), 8. 8. Ibid., 10. 11. Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, 52. 12. Bunyan, Grace Abounding, 59. 13. Ibid., 67-68. 14. Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, 53. 15. Ibid. 17. Owens, "Notes," in Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, 127, n. 137. 18. Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, 48. 19. Owens, "Introduction," xvi. 21.

Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, 60. 22. Ibid., 60-61. 23. Charles Spurgeon, Autobiography, vol. 2 (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1973), 159; cited in Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, 77. 24. Owens, "Introduction," xvi-xvii. 25. Bunyan, Grace Abounding, 79. 26. Ibid. © 2009 Probe Ministries About the Author Michael Gleghorn is a research associate with Probe Ministries. He holds a B.A. in psychology from Baylor University and a Th.M. in systematic theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. Before coming on staff with Probe, Mr. Gleghorn taught history and theology at Christway Academy. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in theological studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his family live in the Dallas area.

About Probe Ministries Probe Ministries is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to present the Gospel to communities, nationally and internationally, by providing life-long opportunities to integrate faith and learning through balanced, biblically based scholarship, training people to love God by renewing their minds and equipping the Church to engage the world for Christ. Further information about Probe's materials and ministry may be obtained by contacting: Probe Ministries | Suite 2000 | 2001 W. Plano Parkway | Plano, Texas 75075

Question: Give a year in the life of John Bunyan?
Answer: 1628-1688